Personal Injury and Wrongful Death

North Carolina Salmonella Wrongful Death
Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak


Lawsuit Process Started against King Nut Companies and Peanut Corporation of America
A 72-year-old Minnesota woman was the first reported death in the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak linked to King Nut peanut butter (see below). On behalf of her heirs, attorney Fred Pritzker has started the process of a lawsuit against King Nut Companies and Peanut Corporation of America.

Fred Pritzker has been interviewed by WCCO-TV and KSTP-TV regarding this outbreak and the resulting lawsuit. "Most importantly, this lawsuit is for food safety. This is very much about making products safer," attorney Fred Pritzker told WCCO.

** Contact us regarding the Salmonella lawsuit.

Salmonella Bacteria on ProduceOur law firm has a national reputation in the area of food poisoning litigation, and lawyers in the firm have been interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other publications.  Our lawyers have been named "Super Lawyers" by Minnesota Law & Politics. Read our press release, "Attorney Fred Pritzker Says Salmonella Outbreak Raises Food Safety Questions."

Peanut Butter lawsuit information:

Fatal Salmonella Typhimurium Infection
North Carolina Salmonella Death

January 16, 2009 - Peanut ButterFour people from North Carolina have tested positive for the same strain of Salmonella Typhimurium that has sickened more than 450 people nationwide.

A Catawba County resident died in November due to a blood infection caused by outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said tests were taken the day before the Catawba County resident died. Dr. Zack Moore, a state epidemiologist, said the tests indicated the infection had overrun the man's digestive system and spread to his bloodstream.

We are representing the family of a woman who died after eating King Nut peanut butter. The woman, who was at a nursing home, was given peanut butter toast as a snack. A few days later, she died. Health officials tested an open container of King Nut peanut butter they found at the nursing home and found the same strain of Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria that had infected the woman.

According to the North Carolina Department of Health:

It takes several weeks to determine which Salmonella cases belong to an outbreak, since a series of successive laboratory tests must be completed to determine the molecular “fingerprint” of the bacteria that shows the cases are likely due to a common source of infection. The CDC identified the outbreak strain on Dec. 31, 2008. 

Investigation into possible sources of the illness by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state and local public health officials indicates that a likely source of the bacteria causing the infections is peanut butter sold in large containers to institutions, food service industries and private-label food companies across the country, but not directly to consumers.

There have been a number of recalls associated with this Salmonella outbreak:

State and federal health officials are continuing to investigate, and are examining exposures to peanut butter and products containing peanut butter that may be associated with illness.

North Carolina health officials are continuing to investigate the North Carolina case, and are looking at laboratory test results for other potential cases linked to this outbreak.

Nationally, most of the reported illnesses began between Sept. 3 and Dec. 31, 2008. Illnesses that occurred after mid-December may not yet be reported; there is a time lag of 2-3 weeks between when a person becomes ill, and when lab tests are completed and the illness is reported. According to the CDC, hospitalizations occurred in about 28 percent of the cases for which they have that information.


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